Unruly passenger causes JetBlue flight from JFK to divert

EXCLUSIVE VIDEO: An unruly passenger on board a JetBlue flight out of JFK caused a plane to divert on Saturday morning.

Cristina Romano

Saturday, June 14, 2014

NEW YORK (WABC) --

A JetBlue flight that took off from JFK Airport diverted to Detroit Saturday morning due to an unruly passenger.

Flight 211 to Las Vegas took off at approximately 6:40 a.m. - the incident happened 90 minutes into the flight.

The unruly passenger was yelling harsh words with family members. The man then got upset, and the incident quickly escalated. The man then stood up and banged on the seats of the aircraft.

A male flight attendant asked the man to calm down and take his seat, but the passenger continued his tirade and swung at the flight attendants. Additional members of the flight crew rushed to assist, and eventually calmed the man down and brought him to the back of the plane where he remained restrained from other passengers.

One passenger said it seemed as if the man was sleeping and woke up in a nightmare and lost his mind.

Within 30 minutes, the plane was diverted to Detroit where it landed, and the man was removed without further incident.

An airport spokesperson in Detroit confirms that the passenger was transported under police custody to Oakwood Hospital in Wayne. Michigan.

In a statement, JetBlue confirmed, "due to a customer issue, the captain elected to divert to Detroit this morning in an abundance of caution.